1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a wheel suspension and, in particular to an intra-hub suspension for the rear wheel of a motorcycle.
2. Brief Statement of the Prior Art
Motorcycle rear suspensions have commonly used outboard shock absorbers or springs that are mounted outboard from the rear axle to provide a suspension between the rear axle and the frame. These suspensions are not ideally suited for the application; the outboard shock absorbers clutter the appearance of the motorcycle.
Additionally, the suspensions which provide for relative movement of the rear wheel and the frame, unavoidably result in changing of the tension of the drive chain, as the suspensions do not arc on a radius corresponding to the drive chain. The result is high wear and inefficiency of the drive chain system.
In the early 1950's Triumph attempted to market an intra-hub suspension system for the rear wheel of a motorcycle in which a suspension assembly of springs and cam and cam followers were mounted within the hub of the rear wheel. This attempt was aborted after a short period, approximately one year, and no further attempts have been made to provide an intra-hub suspension system, despite the desirable features in appearance and chain longevity that such a mechanism can provide.